Ryoko Ishi
by The Cat's Paw
Summary: It was an ordinary mission, with extraordinary consequences. When an AU Shisui accidentally ends up in a canon-like universe, how will his presence alter it, and will he be able to get home? Ends up with Shisui/Sakura, eventually. T rated.


**So this is a story that I wrote a few days ago, just before I did Fragments of a Life. This… got away from me. I had this idea for a Shisui/Sakura, started writing it, but then it didn't end up how I wanted. I mean, I'm still going to do it, but unlike my other two fics of this pairing, I think this one's gonna be longer between updates.**

 **I have made a couple of decisions about some of the plot, and I'm gonna AU it in a few cases, with slight variations on what happens after this chapter ends and before the next one begins.**

 **Still, I hope you all enjoy this fic whose characters I don't own. :)**

 _ **Ryokō Ishi**_

 **Part One**

"Hurry up and grab it, would you!" his team mate yelled at him as he fended off a few of the enemy.

"Yeah, yeah," Shisui said, ducking a kunai, then reaching out and grabbing the item they were here to collect.

A loud and resounding "Noooooooo!" from the leader of the enemy gang was rather abruptly cut off as the world warped around Shisui and he stumbled, landing on his backside with a disgruntled 'hmph!' Standing up, he dusted himself off, and, assuming his partner had won his fight considering the silence, said, "Well, that's another mission success! Chalk it up to…"

Trailing off, Shisui looked around in confusion at the now empty-but-for-himself room. "Eh, Hibiki?"

The place was empty, and even the room was different. It looked like no one had been in here in _years_. The ornaments that the Kowasu group had put up all over the place, declaring it as theirs, were gone. All the accoutrements that came with such a hideout, like chairs, desks, shelves and such, were also missing. Rubble was now littered everywhere, and even the pedestal where the stone he'd grabbed had lain was a mess.

"Eh? What's going on?" he wondered.

Looking down at the stone, he saw the katakana _ryok_ _ō_ etched into it. "Travel," he murmured. "But to where?"

Experimentally, Shisui put the stone back on the pedestal, but nothing happened. Maybe it was because the pedestal was broken? Dusting everything off as best he could, Shisui examined the pedestal, having to activate his sharingan in the low light to be able to see anything. Though he hadn't paid attention at the time, there had been carvings etched into it before he'd grabbed the stone, but if there ever had been any on _this_ pedestal, they were long worn out now.

"This is just fucking great," he muttered. "What am I supposed to do now? Travel… travel… What does that mean? Travel as in distance? Time? Pftht! Like that last one's possible! Uh… _maybe_. I should just go outside and see if the scenery has changed."

So he did, and so it had. It was far more overgrown than before, which had been a sparse tree-line. Yet, he could see an important landmark from the top of the trees once he leapt up there. Actually, more than one that told him he was in the right place. ' _But are you in the right_ time _?_ ' a voice in his head mocked him.

He pulled the stone out of the pocket he'd shoved it in. Now that he could see it more clearly, it was made of roughly cut labradorite. The only etching that was clear was the katakana, everything else seemed to be just random scratches. He knew certain stones had different meanings and uses, but he had no idea what they were. It wasn't something he'd ever been interested in. He really only knew it was labradorite because a cousin of his had a necklace made of it.

Pocketing the stone again, Shisui thought about what he should do. "I should report this to the Hokage," he murmured to himself. "But I'll leave some sign here, just in case Hibiki is somewhere around. Something that only a Leaf ninja would recognise."

Returning to the room with the pedestal, he used a kunai to carve in a message to return to the village in the highest code, one he _knew_ Hibiki would recognise, then headed out, intending on returning to Konohagakure, wondering what he would find there. And yet, he never even made it back to the village.

OoOoO

Night fell prematurely, and Shisui stared up at the moon. It was _red_. "What the actual fuck?" he wondered.

Closing his eyes, he did his best to try to sense if there was anything unusual going on. He was no sensor, but it was worth a shot, right? And indeed it seemed that was true, because he could sense something not that far away.

"And of course, because it's so close is why I could sense it," he muttered as he hesitantly headed towards it. "Not that I know exactly what's going on."

Once he arrived, he was _shocked_. There, lying on the ground, was someone he didn't expect to be out here, in the midst of what looked like the aftermath of a battle. Well, part of her was there, another part was not far away, and he only saw it because of the trail of slugs leading to it.

"Tsunade-hime?" he practically choked out. "What the hell is going on here?"

The Sannin looked up at him, face showing her true age. "Who… who are you?" she asked.

"You don't recognise me?" Shisui frowned, and she weakly shook her head. "Well, I'm Uchiha Shisui."

Tsunade's eyes widened briefly, then she closed them and sighed. "So I'm dead, then?" she asked. "Although I seem to be still in pain, didn't think that would carry over to the other side."

"Um, why do you think you're dead?" Shisui asked, then quickly said, "No wait! I don't want to know! Just… Tell me what I can do to help?"

"Please," the slug summons across from him spoke up. "Please bring Tsunade's lower half up here. I… I haven't been able to reattach her, and the summoning is starting to unravel."

Shisui did so, watching as the slugs slowly started to heal the Sannin. Then he froze when a smooth, slick voice spoke, "Well, well. I didn't expect _you_ of all people to be here with the Kage, Uchiha Shisui."

Shisui spun on his heel to see _Orochimaru_ standing there, with two others by his side. "Uchiha?" the red headed girl asked, squinting at him. "Aren't they all supposed to be dead, except Sasuke-kun and that Tobi guy?"

 _Dead_? Shisui's world spun on it's head, but he forcefully pushed that aside so that he could deal with what was right in front of him. The summon had gathered acid into her mouth. "Orochimaru!" she exclaimed. "Why are you here? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just kill you now!"

Orochimaru just widened his arms placatingly. "I mean you no harm, Katsuyu," he said smoothly. "I only came here to heal the Kage, I am not a foe."

"I don't have _any_ reason to believe you!" Katsuyu argued. "And besides, I thought _you_ were _dead_."

"If I do anything you deem as suspicious, you are welcome to take me down with your acid," Orochimaru said calmly.

The two who'd come with Orochimaru bolted out of range, the girl screeching, and even Shisui stepped out of range of the slug's acid, just in case.

The summon, Katsuyu, examined him carefully a moment, then drew back her acid. "Very well," she agreed. "I shall believe you and trust you."

"Quite sensible, unlike Manda," Orochimaru spoke. "Now, where are the other Kage?"

"They're recovering inside my fragments," Katsuyu said. "They've all been heavily injured, but it's been difficult to heal them."

"Why is that, since you are here?"

"The strength of my healing is relative only to the strength of Tsunade's own healing jutsu," the slug said. "But she's extremely weak, so I cannot activate my strength fully."

"So that's how the system works," Orochimaru mused. "Still, I've never seen Tsunade so weakened, so it much be true."

"We have to do something," Shisui spoke up. "You said you came here to heal the Kage, how were you planning to do that?"

"Karin," Orochimaru said. "Come here and let Tsunade-hime bite you."

"Whaaat?" the girl, Karin whined. "But I only want Sasuke-kun to bite me!"

"Ha!" the other guy said, jumping on that. "You just admitted you're in love with Sasuke!"

"What! No I didn't! How could I hate… I mean _like_ that damned Sasuke! He tried to kill me and it was irresistible… Wait, no it wasn't!"

"Um, shouldn't you just heal Tsunade-hime instead of arguing?" Shisui interrupted.

"Shisui's right," Orochimaru said. "Get to it, Karin."

Reluctantly, the girl came forward and allowed Tsunade to bite her, and the Sannin instantly began healing and recovering the younger appearance Shisui knew. "She's an Uzumaki, isn't she?" he said to the snake Sannin.

"Yes," Orochimaru said. "I found her not long after she'd run from her village in Grass. She's been quite a valuable find."

He turned to Shisui then. "And how are _you_ here, Shisui-kun?"

Shisui gave Orochimaru a glare. "Why should I tell _you_?" he asked. "From the sounds of it, you're an _enemy_ of Konoha."

"I _was_ ," Orochimaru admitted. "But I've recently had a change of perspective. In fact, it's thanks to your dear little cousin, Sasuke, that I no longer hold village destroying inclinations."

"You've had a change of heart, then?" Tsunade said, sitting up fully healed now. "You betrayed the Leaf, so why do this, and why now?"

"The range of things that interest me has just expanded," Orochimaru said. "I wanted to become the windmill and turn the wind myself, but now I know what it is to watch someone else's wind, a wild and unpredictable wind. I don't want that sealed away where I can't enjoy it."

"You make no sense," Tsunade said.

"Ain't that the truth," Shisui murmured, but the two Sannin were caught up on their reminiscing.

Because of that, Shisui learned that Jiraiya was dead, and that there was currently a war going on. A war that was the cause of the Kage being here in such a state, and of Orochimaru being here as well.

"Who's fighting in this war?" he asked. "Which villages are involved?"

"All of them," Orochimaru's male subordinate spoke up. "An organisation called Akatsuki declared war, because the Leaf and Cloud wouldn't give up their jinchuuriki. So now the five great nations are allied against them."

"Akatsuki?" Shisui knew of an organisation that went by that name, but declaring a war wasn't in their MO.

"So," Orochimaru said again. "Will you join the battlefield? Will you go there with me, or wait for the Kage to be healed?"

"Tsunade-hime," Shisui asked. "Would you be alright on your own if I went straight to the field with Orochimaru?"

Tsunade nodded. "I'll be fine," she said. "Now that I have more chakra, it shouldn't take too long to heal the rest of the Kage."

"Alright, let's get going then!" Karin declared, and they were off.

OoOoO

"So," Orochimaru said as they sped off to the battlefield. "How did you get here, Shisui-kun?"

Shisui pulled out the labradorite stone and held it up for the Sannin to see. "Snagged this off a pedestal for a mission," he said. "The room then changed from a well lived in enemy hideout, to a long abandoned ruin."

"'Travel _'_ , hm…?" Orochimaru mused, and Shisui pocketed the stone. "Was it on a two foot high circular pedestal with etchings engraved down along the sides?"

"Yes," Shisui confirmed. "I didn't pay any attention to them initially. But once everything changed… Those etchings disappeared. And putting the stone _back_ on the pedestal didn't seem to do anything."

"It sounds like something I briefly came across once," the Sannin said, then was thoughtful for a moment. "Tell me, how old are you, Shisui?"

"Twenty three," the Uchiha answered, a frown indicating he didn't get the point.

"That is the age you would be here, if you were alive," Orochimaru said. "It seems then, that you're from a different dimension."

' _So not time travel then_ ,' that little voice from earlier said, even as he deliberately ignored the 'if you were alive' part of the Sannin's words.

"This is all so very surreal to me," Shisui said. "I mean, there are obvious differences going on here. Your 'turn around' being one thing, this war… And only two other Uchiha? How did _that_ happen?"

"There was going to be a coup," Orochimaru said. "Danzou and the Sandaime put a stop to it by ordering Itachi to kill them all."

Shisui stumbled as he lost his footing in shock. "A _coup_?!" he practically yelped. "And Itachi was ordered to _kill_ them!? What on earth…? _Why did this all happen!_?"

"It's a long story, one best saved for another time," Orochimaru said. "Suffice it to say, Itachi followed his orders, except in the case of his little brother. And in case you were wondering, _you_ were already dead at that point."

Shisui was silent awhile as they ran. There was no way that a coup would have ever happened in his own world. His uncle, Fugaku, was on really good terms with their Hokage, Minato-sama, and had been for years. Then something occurred to him and he just had to ask.

"Orochimaru, something you said back there with Tsunade-hime," he asked. "She is the Hokage, isn't she?"

"Yes, Tsunade-hime is the Godaime," Orochimaru confirmed. "Who is Hokage in your world?"

"The Yondaime, Minato-sama," Shisui answered.

"Well, that could explain things," the Sannin spoke. "Here, Minato died the night the kyuubi attacked the village, and he sealed it into his son."

"What was that?" Shisui asked. "The _kyuubi_ attacked? And Naruto's a _jinchuuriki?_ "

"Yet another long story best left for later," Orochimaru said. "Suffice it to say, the Sandaime took up the Hat once more. Danzou stirred the hornet's nest, and the coup was cut off before it could be implemented."

"Orochimaru-sama, we're nearly there," Karin interrupted. "I… I can individually sense the others with Sasuke-kun on the battlefield."

Suddenly they could see a gigantic tree shooting up. "What the heck is that?" Suigetsu yelped. "It, it's _giant_ , even from this distance."

"Let's go see, shall we?" Orochimaru said, and they picked up their pace.

OoOoO

"Such words of weakness. How unlike you, Sarutobi-sensei."

Orochimaru, Karin, Suigetsu, and Shisui landed in the midst of the battlefield.

"Orochimaru, you're quite late," the Sandaime said, and Shisui narrowed his eyes at him, feeling a slight twitch of anger at the man, but he pushed it aside. "The five Kage?"

"Their healing has been seen to," Orochimaru said. "If they don't chicken out, they should be coming."

"You're still as sarcastic as ever I see," Hiruzen muttered, then he started. "Shisui? What the? Is that really you? How are you here?"

"It's a long story," Shisui said, parroting Orochimaru from before. "Basically though, I accidentally ended up travelling here from another reality."

"Shisui?" spoke another, and the Uchiha in question tried not to gape at the sight of the _Nidaime_. "Isn't he the one you mentioned earlier, Hiruzen? The descendant of Kagami? He even looks a lot like him…"

"Sorry I'm late, Juugo, Sasuke," Suigetsu called out, and Shisui looked over to see the alternate version of his younger cousin.

"You've come," the one who was likely Juugo said.

"Yup, and you wouldn't guess what we found," Suigetsu said. "A cross-dimension travelling Uchiha!"

 _That_ diverted Sasuke's intense attention, and Shisui saw his eyes widen briefly before they narrowed at him. Suigetsu and Karin were talking then, but Shisui ignored them in favour of his cousin.

"Is that… _really_ you?" Sasuke asked.

"In a way," Shisui said. "I figured since I don't exactly know how to get back home, I might as well come and help you guys out."

Sasuke stared a moment, then nodded and headed off to where Naruto was, Juugo by his side. Shisui looked over at the enemy, frowned, then his eyes widened. "O-Obito-nii?"

OoOoO

When everyone else ran over to where the Shodai was fighting Madara (Shisui's brain was in overload at this point, and he was mostly operating on automatic) Shisui made his way over to where Kakashi and Minato-sama were with Obito. The latter looked up at him, his eyes wide.

"Shisui?" he croaked out, and both Kakashi and Minato-sama turned to practically gape at him as well.

"What? How are you here?" Kakashi demanded.

"I feel like I've explained this a hundred times since I got here," Shisui muttered, then said, "but here goes a hundred and one. I was on a mission. I picked up a stone. And now, I'm in a different reality. How's that for an answer?"

"Not much of one, if you ask me," Kakashi said. "But we'll take it."

Shisui looked down at Obito and sighed. "Look at what you've done to yourself, Obito-nii," he said. "Rin would be aghast to see you like this."

"You… you know Rin?" Obito asked. "She's alive in your world?"

"She is," Shisui confirmed, then glanced at the undead Yondaime. "So are you, Hokage-sama."

"What does this 'stone' look like?" Minato-sama asked, and Shisui pulled it out of his pocket, holding it up.

"It's made of labradorite," he said. "No idea what its purpose is, and no idea how to use it to get home, either, so I'm liable to be stuck here awhile. Unless I die on this battlefield, of course."

He looked back down at his cousin, and sighed. "Though I'm telling you right now," he said, "if I ever do get home, there's _no way_ I'd ever tell anyone exactly what's going on here. Especially not the Obito that I know."

Obito nodded, then choked in pain.

"The tailed beasts were extracted from him," Minato-sama said. "That means he'll…"

Shisui looked sadly down at his cousin, though a moment later, Minato-sama recanted what he'd implied. "Then, his life is…" Kakashi paused, then continued, "I had hoped that he could atone for his past misdeeds. But if he can't even move… You just… lie there, okay? Sensei, look after him, will you?"

"Of course," Minato-sama said.

"Shisui?" Kakashi asked. "Are you coming? Or do you wish to stay?"

"I'll come with you," Shisui said. "Let's go help put an end to this war."

"Wait…"

Shisui and Kakashi turned back to him. Obito wanted to make amends, and he tried to. But a few moments later, some black thing, Zetsu, Kakashi called it, ruined that, and things went downhill from there.

 **So how was it? The next chapter is already started, but only has 138 words and takes up after the infinite tsukuyomi is broken.**

 **I used labradorite for the stone based on one thing I read about it, that it was used by shamans in rituals and stuff. A 'magic stone' basically.**

 **Review please!**

 _Ryokō Ishi: Travel stone. Google translation._

 _Kowasu: To ruin, Google translation._

 _Ryokō: Travel. Collins English-Japanese dictionary translation._


End file.
